A caravan installed in the middle of the path, inevitably appeals to the few walkers of the Haute-Ile park in Neuilly-sur-Marne. It is here that the department of Seine-Saint-Denis decided to install, this Wednesday, June 22, its “Caravan against discrimination”.
Know your rights
On board, officers from the department are there to raise public awareness of the various types of discrimination, their legal recognition and above all the possible steps to take for those who consider themselves victims. The latter will even be able to start them in the vehicle, whether to alert associations or seize the Defender of Rights, whose delegates are also present.
Inès and Marie-Fernande, two sisters from Noisy-le-Grand and Gournay-sur-Marne, stop to pick up the little flyer distributed by the agents. Above the call number of the antidiscrimination.fr platform (3928) that Inès could well dial. “I’m deaf and on the phone, every time I get mugged when I call [des services ou entreprises] because people don’t understand. But the two women, admit it, are reluctant to take legal action. “We give up because otherwise we get into a gear”, admits Marie-Fernande.
Don’t let it go
It is against this feeling of fatality that we must fight at all costs, believes Oriane Filhol. “Often in Seine-Saint-Denis and in particular young people are victims of an accumulation of discrimination… and many people consider that it is like that, ‘I’m used to it, I deal with it’recalls the departmental adviser in charge of the fight against discrimination.
In a study, commissioned at the end of 2021, by the department, 63% of Séquano-Dionysiens say they have suffered one or more forms of discrimination in the past five years. “But the Defender of Rights tells us that there are few referrals… We see that there is a big gap between the victims and those who assert their rights, so we need to remind people that this is a crime and that we can help them defend them”.
A tour of 17 cities
The caravan will also raise awareness among audiences of all ages, during its tour, so that witnesses of discrimination also do not let it go. Good news for Françoise, this retired former tax inspector, is worried about the speeches and the “racist speech that breaks free” more and more around her. “Yesterday, for example, I had a friend who is a teacher, who told me that African mothers do not have a maternal sense according to her…. it shocked me enormously, she did not realized that she was making racist comments.
The Caravan against discrimination will pass through 17 towns in the department until July 13. The next stage is scheduled for Saturday June 25 in Montreuil and Romainville.
Calendar of the Caravan against discrimination:
- Saturday, June 25 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Fête de la ville de Montreuil (Parc Montreau)
- Saturday June 25 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Grande Parade Métèque association village in Romainville (Le Pavillon)
- Sunday June 26 in Saint-Denis at the Olympic Days Village
- Wednesday June 29 from 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. at the Parc du Sausset in Villepinte
- Friday July 1 from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Rosny 2 shopping center in Rosny-sous-Bois
- Saturday July 2 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Quartier en fête event in Stains (Parc Francis Auffray)
- Sunday July 3 from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Parc Georges Valbon in La Courneuve
- Tuesday July 5 from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Parc départemental de la Bergère, in Bobigny
- Wednesday July 6 from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Eté du Canal in Pantin (Place de la pointe)
- Friday July 8 from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Aubervilliers on the forecourt of the town hall
- Saturday July 9 in Clichy-sous-Bois (to be defined)
- Monday July 11 in Aulnay-sous-Bois (to be defined)
- Tuesday July 12 from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Eté Audonien in Saint-Ouen
- Wednesday July 13 at the Summer in Villetaneuse (to be defined)